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For some of you it's a tradition to go to church on Christmas day. How do you handle the presents and the stuff from Santa? Do you make the kids wait until after church?
In our family it's a major undertaking just to get through all the presents by sundown. Now with Christmas falling on a Sunday, and some of us wanting to go to church, I don't know what we'll do.
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We'll go, but just for sacrament meeting. I think that's all that's taking place.
I love it when Christmas falls on a Sunday and there is church. It being Christmas, that seems appropriate. Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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I had never considered that aspect of being a Mormon. I'm grateful that I only have to buy presents for a few people every Christmas. Y'all must spend about a million dollars per family and rent convention centers for Christmas.
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I'm not going to church because it's Christmas -- I'm going because it's Sunday.
quote:In our family it's a major undertaking just to get through all the presents by sundown.
Oh my stars. I can't imagine getting that many presents.
It's not going to be a big issue for us. We'll probably have all the presents opened before we go to church.
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That's something I never thought about before. I just assumed all Christian churches would have church on Christmas day, whether it fell on a Sunday or not. Just never really thought about that. I can't imagine not going.
My family loves going to midnight mass, then coming home to bed and then getting up late for stockings opening (small gifts in stockings like candy, batteries, socks) then breakfast, then present exchange/openings.
If no midnight mass then sometimes we'd go to mass the night before and do Christmas day exactly as mentioned above. Or, stockings opened, then breakfast, then mass, THEN opening presents.
What we did back when most gifts for us kids weren't wrapped cuz Santa didn't wrap presents I don't remember, but I think we treated it the same as the stockings.
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We’ll open presents on Saturday night, after the Christmas Eve services. Then have stockings on Christmas morning, before Sunday morning services.
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I would like to go on Christmas Day. I've wanted to go to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve for ages, but not by myself and I never found any other takers. Maybe I can talk someone into this year.
I have Christmas Day tradition instead. I wake up very, very early (naturally - can't sleep, it's Christmas!), put the wassail on the stove, and go outside and sing Christmas carols to the pre-dawn. If there is time and I'm not too cold, I'll make a snow sculpture. This is good because no one else is up and I don't sing very well, and because it makes it feel like Christmas to me. Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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quote:Y'all must spend about a million dollars per family and rent convention centers for Christmas.
We get most of the kids' presents from yard sales, believe it or not.
We're going to sacrament meeting-- I, for one, am grateful that that's the only service that day.
quote:I've wanted to go to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve for ages, but not by myself and I never found any other takers. Maybe I can talk someone into this year.
When I was a missionary, we went to Midnight Mass in the Duomo in Milan. I thought it was a wonderful service-- I was very impressed with the portion of the service where you turn to your neighbor and shake their hands. I was at the end of my mission, and it felt very. . . right to say goodbye to Italy in this way.
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We get together with my wife's family at her brother's house. The twelve of us start around 8 AM and go around the circle, each opening one gift at a time. We break for breakfast around 10 AM and then don't finish opening presents until around 3:30.
It's not that we're materialistic, but it's mostly girls, and they spend a lot of time oohing and aahing and trying things on and passing things around for a closer look and telling old stories on each other. It drives me nuts when I just want to get to the gadgets so I can go play.
This year the girls have all signed up to be in the choir. So we're going to church. Hope they can keep it to an hour, but I doubt it. Some lady is going to get up there and gush about how "special" everything is.
Let's get to the gadgets!
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I wish you could suggest gadgets my dad would like, skillery. I got him an electronic rain gauge/outdoor thermometer with a wireless reciever inside the house but I wish I could come up with something that sounds more FUN. He's so hard to buy for. Oh well.
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quote:gadgets my dad would like... I got him an electronic rain gauge/outdoor thermometer with a wireless reciever inside the house
Sweet!
Now do to him like they do to me and make him wait until the last gift, after the socks and shirts (and after church), to open it.
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We will go to church on Christmas Sunday as we do every Sunday.
It really isn't a conflict for us because we really don't do much at home on Christmas morning. We will have a family gathering at my sister's house later in the day.
quote: I just assumed all Christian churches would have church on Christmas day
I thought most churches do more Christmas Eve services, and not Christmas Day.
Until I read a news article about megachurches closing on Christmas day this year, I had always assumed that Christian churches would all have church on Sunday, whether it was Christmas or not.
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Our ward is doind an hour long sacrament meeting. We are meeting with the other two wards in our building.
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I suspect my family will try to drag me to church.
My father flipped out when I refused to go to church the last time I was home.
"Why not?" "Because I'm not Southern Baptist." "Well, what ARE you?" "I don't know, but I'm not Southern Baptist."
I don't think he understands that I'm still Christian; I just really don't want to go to our neighborhood Southern Baptist church. They're very mean-spirited people.
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It's no surprise that he doesn't realize you're still Christian if all you'll tell him is that you aren't Southern Baptist.
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Storm, a lot of large Mormon extended families I know do the "pick a name" version of gift exchange--because buying presents for all the nieces and nephews when you are from a huge family is just impossible.
We are a tiny Mormon family, so it's presents for everybody. Me, my parents, my brother & his wife and son.
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Ophelia, I was rather startled by that too. We had a fairly long discussion here about whether to follow our normal Sunday schedule or to combine the two morning services, but we never for a minute considered not having worship at all. I mean -- it's Sunday and Christmas and the church is closed? Doesn't seem quite right.
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Ophelia, do you have a link to that article? I don't think I've ever heard of a church not having at least one Sunday service if it's Christmas day.
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quote:Originally posted by katharina: I would like to go on Christmas Day. I've wanted to go to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve for ages, but not by myself and I never found any other takers. Maybe I can talk someone into this year.
Kat, If you will be in the Salt Lake area on Christmas, I'll go to midnight mass with you. I live just a short walk from the Cathedral.
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quote: For some of you it's a tradition to go to church on Christmas day. How do you handle the presents and the stuff from Santa? Do you make the kids wait until after church?
In our family it's a major undertaking just to get through all the presents by sundown. Now with Christmas falling on a Sunday, and some of us wanting to go to church, I don't know what we'll do.
Our church offers extra (instead of the usual four) for Christmas Masses, as church attendance mysteriously quadruples on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Our family's Christmas tradition starts with an early Christmas Eve Mass. We then exchange presents with the family (gifts to mom, dad, Grandma, uncle's family and between siblings), and party hop to two more family/family friend parties (basically so Dad can brag he's been to this one place every year since 1968). Early the next morning, we open the presents from "Santa" (aka Mom and Dad only), and Mom and Dad open what they've gotten each other and themselves. We then have a family dinner, not unlike Thanksgiving, and eat. In the evening, we go to our cousins house for their party (no presents involved). The relgion ends on Christmas Eve, and the Commericia/loving family part takes over. Our church offers Sat/Sun services, so we don't think it weird doing a vigil. Do you see everyone on Christmas day? I'd recommend looking for something early the night before. Or you could restrict what you open. Santa's stuff only takes 10 minutes for us, maybe just do that and go to church. Deal with family gift's when you come back. Do you exchange with various people who come and go all day?
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But for many Mormons, myself included, having a Sunday off without church is a welcome relief. Most Sundays are all about meetings: you've got the three regular meetings, plus presidency meeting, choir practice, and maybe a meeting or two with the bishop such as Ward Correlation Mtg, or Bishop's Youth Committee Mtg, Welfare Mtg, or Priesthood Executive Committee Mtg. And then there's Personal Priesthood Interviews (PPIs), and Scout Committee Mtg, and Teacher Development Mtg...
Also, if you show up for any of those meetings, you will most likely end up with an assignment that needs to be completed before the end of the day: somebody needs a blessing, or somebody didn't get home-taught this month, or so-and-so needs your schedule for next month so they put it in the ward bulletin.
And then there's preparation for next Sunday's lesson.
Anyway, for many Mormons, you know that when they open those doors on Sunday, you're pretty much tied up until it stops being Sunday. Not the best way to spend Christmas day.
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I agree with Katie. From what I understand, the counsel from the First Presidency was to have only one one meeting on Christmas Sunday - Sacrament. Which, after all, is the most important of all the meetings anyway.
For me, the thought of skipping Church on the day that has been established to celebrate Christ's birth seems... wrong.
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We'll go to church on Dec. 25 just like any other Sunday (Acts 20:7, I Cor. 16:2, Heb 10:25). As for gifts / family celebrations -- eh, it's not that big a deal. We can always move it to another day if we like.
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For me, it will be a relief to have a Sunday that I can enjoy without worrying about teaching a lesson. I was Gospel Doctrine (adult Sunday school) teacher for several months, now I'm Valiant 12 (11- and 12-year-old Sunday school) teacher. The adults were easier - I haven't got the hang of teaching the 12-year-olds yet. And I've got one more lesson with this group before the end of the year and the classes change.
So, back to the question: yes, we're going to church on Christmas Day, because it's Sunday.
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I really think it's sad some churches are closing.
We plan on going, if I don't it will be because of how I feel, not because it's Christmas. Last week I didn't go because I was still feeling a bit unwell, but my husband took the kids.
I do understand a lot of people won't be there because they're travelling on that day to see family or will be out of town. We don't have a service on every Christmas, only when it falls on a Sunday. We do normally have a candlelight Christmas Eve service or the church is at least open for prayer on Christmas Eve.
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quote:Originally posted by CaySedai: For me, it will be a relief to have a Sunday that I can enjoy without worrying about teaching a lesson. I was Gospel Doctrine (adult Sunday school) teacher for several months, now I'm Valiant 12 (11- and 12-year-old Sunday school) teacher. The adults were easier - I haven't got the hang of teaching the 12-year-olds yet. And I've got one more lesson with this group before the end of the year and the classes change.
So, back to the question: yes, we're going to church on Christmas Day, because it's Sunday.
Last year, I was a teacher of the 12 and 13 year olds. Honestly, I probably learned a lot more from them than they did from me.
However, I did get from the first week, when everyone was running around the room not paying attention, to the last week before I moved away, when they would be answering questions, having discussions, and were very sad that I was leaving them.
Probably has a lot to do with the fact that I was at least 20 years younger than their previous teacher. Generation gap wasn't nearly as wide.
Ah, I miss those kids.
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quote: Probably has a lot to do with the fact that I was at least 20 years younger than their previous teacher. Generation gap wasn't nearly as wide.
I'll bet it has more to do with the fact that you genuinely cared and liked them and are a good teacher! Plenty of "generation gap" teachers are well-loved by their students too.
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The kids and I will be going. When Christmas falls on Sunday they have one service mid morning rather than the usual three. The kids will no doubt have us up early enough to have the presents unwrapped.
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quote:I'll bet it has more to do with the fact that you genuinely cared and liked them and are a good teacher! Plenty of "generation gap" teachers are well-loved by their students too.
That may have had something to do with it
But I'll never forget the pleading look one of the girls gave me at the end, as she said, "Make sure they don't have an Old Person replace you, okay?"
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Re: the CNN article: I think it’s true that attendance will be down – some people will be traveling, some people will prefer to stay at home and do stuff with family, and some people will decide that since they went to church on Saturday night they don’t have to/want to go again on Sunday morning. But I suspect that the “hardly anybody” who showed up at those 8,000 member churches the last time Christmas was on a Sunday was still more people than are in 90% of the churches in this country on a weekly basis. So don’t have the big production that requires 500 volunteers. Have a simple service of prayers and hymns for the people who want to be in church on Sunday morning.
quote: "If our target and our mission is to reach the unchurched, basically the people who don't go to church, how likely is it that they'll be going to church on Christmas morning?"
If the church isn’t open? Not very likely.
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My parents never let us open our presents until we'd been to Christmas mass. As a child, I hated that, being a greedy little bugger, and all us kids would harass my mother to let us go to Christmas Eve mass instead of Christmas morning. Eventually she caved, and there was much rejoicing. However, we still weren't allowed to wake my parents up until 8am, so we really didn't gain a whole lot. (Weren't allowed to open any presents without them there, either, democratically handing them out one by one.)
Now I find I really dislike the Eve mass, because it is so insanely crowded, and I (grinch!) don't enjoy the kiddie pageant. Much for the same reason (crowding) I don't enjoy the Midnight mass. I really love the early morning mass (9am): simple service, with our beloved cantor and organist, not too crowded. For me, it really feels like a blessed time of worship, not a jam-packed zoo like the other masses. So now I agitate for the early Christmas morning mass.
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We normally go to the "Family Service" on Christmas Eve, which is the annoying pageant one with poor singing and children flicking boogers at one another.
Last year, we didn't go to church at all.
This year, we're going to a different church on Christmas Day - Lambeau Field. Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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I sometimes go to church on Christmas Eve. But I always try to spend the first fifteen minutes of Christmas morning after I wake up meditating.
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It used to be tradition in my family to go to Midnight Mass, Christmas Eve was a big event with us. We'd go to Mass, come home and open one present. Then we'd go to bed and in the morning open all the other presents. The rest of the day was spent playing.
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Oh, we've done that too, some years. I forgot that. Then there was the year the parents maneuvered my brother and I into picking the presents they wanted us to open, with new winter pajamas. Then we wore them to bed and for Christmas morning. That was clever.
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I am not sure. Christmas Eve vigal is a definate yes, as is Lessons and Carols (the latter may be an exclusively Episcopalian/Anglican service.)
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quote:(the latter may be an exclusively Episcopalian/Anglican service.)
Nope. The original liturgy was written by an Anglican Bishop in 1880, but it has since spread to other denominations.
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We took time out to go to church today and didn't finish opening presents until 6:30 pm. As usual, I had to wait until the very end for the good stuff. I got a rolling Sears Craftsman tool cabinet and an Ethernet switch.
Church wasn't so bad. The ward choir presented a program called Night of Miracles by John W. Peterson. It was pretty lively music, suggestive of an American frontier melodrama, complete with the villain's theme. And there was a waltz that had the whole congregation swaying in their seats. It was quite unusual music for an LDS meeting, but also very uplifting. I'm glad I went.
The opening of presents dragged out, so I borrowed and finished reading my niece's copy of The Old Man and the Sea between my turns at unwrapping. If I had known it was about fishing I would have read it a long time ago.
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We went on Christams Eve and Christmas Day. Eve, we went to the family service where the kid's choir sang "Silent Night" the way it was written - to guitar. Matthew and Livvie are in choir. That is when we lay gifts at manger for the Children's Hospital. Morning was a traditional service. Brian stayed home, but I bribed the kids with promises to pick the first movie if they were well behaved. (OK, maybe there were a few threats "You'll stay in your room while your siblings watch a movie if you don't quiet down".)
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Don't know about decreased attendance. At our church, despite 4 packed afternoon/evening masses and a SRO midnight mass on Christmas Eve, folks were packing the four masses on Christmas morning as well.
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quote:I was very impressed with the portion of the service where you turn to your neighbor and shake their hands.
Is there nothing like this in most Mormon services? This has been a part of every Catholic or Protestant mass I've ever attended.
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Our attendance was down at the 8:15 service on Sunday morning, and right about normal at the 10:45 service.
Our attendence at the four Christmas Eve services combined was about 170% of our average Sunday attandance. (Mostly new visitors, not inactive members.) Our congregational development folks are going wild with follow-up calls. Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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